The Happiest Medium » UNDER St. Marks Theater

Dandy Darkly’s Trigger Happy!: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 21:33:43 +0000

Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

Dandy Darkly’s Trigger Happy!

“All American Tales of Sex and Death!”

Show Info:

Tue Feb 16, 2016 | 7:10PM
Sat Feb 20, 2016 | 8:50PM
Tue Feb 23, 2016 | 5:30PM
Fri Mar 4, 2016 | 10:30PM
Sun Mar 6, 2016 | 1:50PM

UNDER St. Marks New York, NY $10/$15

Answers by Dandy Darkly
(poet, playwright, performer, pervert)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
Dandy: Dandy Darkly typically explains his shows to friends via crude ransom letters. Really helps to encourage attendance!

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
Dandy: I pack my storytelling performances with so much to mull over — costumes, original music, social satire. But I hope people are discussing the way I bend words around one another to spit out these perplexing paragraphs of profane (yet still incredibly pretty) poetry.

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
Dandy: Dandy Darkly drives his show. The nonstop pace of the spoken words set against a beautiful, hauntingly-immersive, musical soundscape pulls the audience into another world.

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
Dandy: I’m proudest of my work when audience members offer a stunned, “I had no idea that’s what you do.” Expect the absolute unexpected.

5. If money and resources (and even reality) were no object what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless prop, costume, effect – anything – that you would spend money on for this show?
Dandy: A pointless and luxurious prop I’d like for a show would be a massive, diamond encrusted, rocket propelled dildo that Dandy Darkly would ride side-saddle on to the stage. That would do nicely!

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
Dandy: Of the international festivals I’ve performed in, I really love the FRIGID Festival. For me, this festival epitomizes the soul of what it means to be an outsider fringe artist. This is a festival where truly emerging voices are given an opportunity to flourish. Not to mention 100% of ticket sales are paid back to the artist. There’s nothing else like it in the city. Frigid is truly a throw back to an era of “art for art’s sake” that’s sorely missing from the Downtown NYC scene. I’m thrilled to see such artists express themselves and proud to be keeping St. Marks weird!

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
Dandy: There’s a pointed political call to action near the end of the show. It will be fun seeing how it plays out considering our presently passionately charged “Bernie versus Hillary” slap fight.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
Dandy: “Disco roller skates on a towering Grace Joneses!”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
Dandy: One last lipstick touch up before I scare my adoring public!

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
Dandy: I’d be shocked to recognize anyone in the audience. Little known showbiz secret: Dandy Darkly is blind as Helen Keller lost in a coal mine!

Well, Dandy Darkly – that explains your last name! ”Through a Theatre Darkly” — hahaha! Well, seeing as how you won’t recognize anyone in the audience, make sure you have someone tell you if anyone amazing was out there!

Thanks so much for answering our questions, Dandy Darkly!

The rest of you – don’t forget to check out Dandy Darkly’s Trigger Happy!

-*-*-

Horse Trade Theater Group will present the 10th Annual FRIGID New York Festival at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4^th Street between 2^nd Avenue and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1^st Avenue and Avenue A) February 16-March 6. All shows run 60 minutes, or less. Tickets are available for purchase in advance at http://www.horsetrade.info/

The BYU/Berkeley Plot: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 16:54:59 +0000

Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

The BYU/Berkeley Plot

“Brigham Young University and UC Berkeley couldn’t be more different. They’re the crispy ends of the higher education banana, and Ben Abbott went to both. But while trading Book of Mormon classes for angry protest rallies, he may have stumbled upon a shocking conspiracy linking the two! (Spoiler: It’s aliens.)”

Show Info:

Mon Feb 22, 2016 | 5:30PM
Thu Feb 25, 2016 | 10:30PM
Sat Feb 27, 2016 | 7:10PM
Wed Mar 02, 2016 | 7:10PM
Fri Mar 04, 2016 | 5:30PM
Sun Mar 06, 2016 | 12:10PM

Under St. Marks New York, NY $10/$15

Answers by Ben Abbott
(writer and performer)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
Ben: I started school at BYU, but finished at UC Berkeley. They are both just such amazingly weird places that are so different from each other but with surprising similarities. I’ve always known I wanted to write a show about that transition from one kind of crazy to another. Also there’s a thing about aliens and how the two schools are caught up in a conspiracy to fool the public and protect the world from invasion, so I guess I can only say the show is semi-autobiographical.

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
Ben: I want them to not know what was true and what wasn’t. There are some things that will be obvious but I’d love for them to be trying to dissect when exactly it went off the rails. And laughing!

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
Ben: Well, “plot” is in the title, but I think it’s at least a combination of plot and character. There are some great stories, but you wouldn’t care about the crazy things happening (both real and imagined) if you weren’t invested in the character.

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
Ben: I think “you actually had me convinced about the fake conspiracy” is the best. Also, someone said “there are parts of this that remind of stand-up,” which is a huge compliment for me because I admire good stand-up comedians to the moon.

5. If money and resources (and even reality) were no object what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless prop, costume, effect – anything – that you would spend money on for this show?
Ben: Well, I think special effects to take the audience through the inter-dimensional vortex would be vital. I also think the aliens should make an appearance, flying saucer and all.

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
Ben: This is my third time at FRIGID, and second as a performer. Without a doubt, the most exciting thing to me is the people. Being around so much active creative energy is hugely inspiring. I always not only get ideas for shows I want to write while I’m around them but this huge boost of excitement to make them happen.

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
Ben: Anyone who’s gone to either of these schools will have a particularly unique experience. Talking about (and maybe making a little fun of) BYU or Berkeley to people who don’t know anything about it is totally different from reminiscing about a shared experience. Either way it’ll be fun.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
Ben: “It was intimate! It was passionate! We never kissed with tongue.”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
Ben: Review the whole thing in my head as fast as I can. Getting lost in your own one-man show is a special kind of hell.

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
Ben: The ex-girlfriend I talk about in the show. I haven’t seen her in 10 years, but that would be paralyzing because I’d only be able to hear it through her ears. Also that whole section is only like, 85% factual, so I’m not sure how that would go.

You’re not the first to say that, Ben! Seems like a lot of FRIGID folks are either hoping like heck that their exes are NOT there, or kinda hoping they are. Maybe it should be a theme one year, “bring back the exes”. But for your sake, and the sake of your show, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you that she doesn’t show up.

Thanks so much for answering our questions, Ben!

The rest of you – don’t forget to check out The BYU/Berkeley Plot.

-*-*-

Eighth Grade: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 18:00:22 +0000

Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

Eighth Grade

Eighth Grade is the origin story of Nisse Greenberg’s neurosis. It’s funny in the way that losing your optimism is always a little funny. Using projections of found images and his eighth grade yearbook, Nisse shows us what it’s like inside his mind: a place no one asked to go.

Show Info:

Wed Feb 17, 2016 | 5:30PM
Sun Feb 21, 2016 | 1:50PM
Sun Feb 28, 2016 | 3:30PM
Wed Mar 02, 2016 | 8:50PM
Sat Mar 05, 2016 | 8:50PM

UNDER St. Marks New York, NY $10

Answers by Nisse Greenberg
(writer, director, and performer)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
Nisse: I think of the show as a way of putting narrative to my neuroses. It’s all stories from my 8th Grade year, but it’s really about now. It’s really about who I am in this exact moment and why I am that person.

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
Nisse: I hope they’re discussing themselves. My favorite type of storytelling is the stuff that opens people up pathways to memories of your self. I did a preview show with a small audience and I was excited in the bar when everyone was sharing their own middle school experiences and discussing why they were important.

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
Nisse: My show is about is me. So, I guess: character.

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
Nisse: Two storytellers have told me that they felt that the twist at the ending and the reflection I have is the type of reflection they’ve never seen before in a storytelling show. That made me proud because it’s hard to feel like you have something to say that isn’t cliched when there are so many solo-shows.

5. If money and resources (and even reality) were no object what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless prop, costume, effect – anything – that you would spend money on for this show?
Nisse: I use pictures from my yearbook when I talk about other people from my class, but if I could I would have drones filming the people in their life right now and I would project the spy footage of them in their present day life while I talked about their 8th grade self.

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
Nisse: I love festivals! I’m excited to go to others’ shows, but I’m more excited to be an audience member with other people who have shows at the festival. That’s my favorite feeling: being in an audience with analytical eyes.

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
Nisse: My ending sorta changes every night based on my own reactions to the audience’s reaction, so that is always a fun part. I try to live in the moment at the end and pull us out of the past. It’s exciting and it’s nerve-racking, but most of all it’s fun.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
Nisse: “Family is an inherently oppressive structure.”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
Nisse: I wish I could just talk to people right up until I am on stage performing. I wish I could just start the show in the midst of conversation. Instead I guess I just breathe and stare at the audience a little. Maybe ask them how they are doing?

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
Nisse: I talk about a lot of people from middle school, but I was very careful to not feel like I’m saying anything I wouldn’t say if they were in the audience. I think I’m fair and honest about others, and try to make sure that I am presenting my perspective of them. But if I saw Jeffery, I’d be happy. The show is really for him and all the Jefferys out there. Jeffery was the guy who was always picked last when we played kickball, and got “kick-me” signs taped to his back. I would love to see him in the audience, but I’d also feel really self-conscious because I would want him to like it so bad.

Well, Nisse, while I can’t guarantee that Jeffery will be there, I’m sure there will be at least one person in your audience who has been picked last, and gotten the equivalent of a “kick-me” sign taped to them. So, in a way, you’ll have Jeffery there every night!

The rest of you – don’t forget to check out Eighth Grade.

-*-*-

Help me out here: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 22:00:04 +0000

Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

Help me out here

produced by No Dominion Theatre Co.

As one assembles an IKEA chair, another determines the meaning of their existence. Devised from journals, emails, and drunken iPhone notes, Help me out here is written and performed by Michael Joel and Kaitlin Overton.Bring a screwdriver…and a Xanax.

Show Info:

Thu Feb 18, 2016 | 5:30PM
Sun Feb 21, 2016 | 5:10PM
Wed Feb 24, 2016 | 7:10PM
Sat Feb 27, 2016 | 10:30PM
Sat Mar 05, 2016 | 12:30PM

UNDER St. Marks New York, NY $13/$18

Answers by Michael Joel and Kaitlin Overton,
(writers, actors, and creators)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
M&K: Basically Kaitlin is actually putting together an Ikea chair every night on stage, and we both are reading things we have actually written in journals over the past year and a half. That’s the easy answer. However what makes this interesting is the fact that Kaitlin is really not good at putting furniture together at all, so Michael will have to help her on stage, hence…Help me out here. But most importantly Help me out here refers to us trying to work through some feelings and stuff (you know) which again you will be able to see live on stage. It’s just a big ol’ mess happening before your eyes.

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
M&K: There is a really interesting moment where we use the format of an infomercial. It’s a little jarring and out of place structurally, but fits with the theme perfectly. I hope people like it as much as we do.

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
M&K: Theme definitely. The idea for this show started with “What if we just put furniture together on stage?” and when we finished laughing and actually thought about it, and decided that this is what we were going to do. It all spiralled from there. The idea of help, the idea of working through something, the action of constructing things both physically and internally. It all came from one idea, so theme is definitely the driving force in this show.

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
M&K: We have been telling people outside the process about the concept of the show, and they are really excited about it, which makes us really excited to do it. It’s comforting and exciting when you decide to do something strange and people are already on board.

5. If money and resources (and even reality) were no object what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless prop, costume, effect – anything – that you would spend money on for this show?
M&K: Besides an Evian shower in the dressing room and unlimited bottles of very expensive wine at our disposal, we would rent out an airplane hangar, paint it totally white, and buy a different piece of furniture for each member of the audience that they have to put together before the show can start (so we have time to drink the wine and take Evian showers).

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
M&K: Definitely meeting other artists and seeing their work, but also that we get to perform on the stage with them. We have always been around the downtown off off theatre scene and now we get to be a part of it!

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night? That infomercial we were talking about before. It is going to read differently for almost everyone who sees it.
M&K: That infomercial we were talking about before. It is going to read differently for almost everyone who sees it.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
Kaitlin: “Can you please come help me build this mother fucking chair” (for obvious reasons)
Michael: “When one door closes, leave it. Look around for a light switch and start getting comfy. There is nothing good on the other side and knowing that has already made you a better person.”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
M&K: SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS EVERYBODY!! But also try not to poop, but also shots.

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
M&K: Meryl Streep. I’m surprised she came after that falling out we had in the 80’s.

Well, you may not be on speaking terms with La Streep at the moment, but if you can arrange to get her in on those pre-show Evian showers and unlimited wine you may just have the perfect scenario to patch things up. I’m rooting for you!

The rest of you – don’t forget to check out Help me out here.

-*-*-

Don’t Move To Toronto: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:00:14 +0000

Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

Don’t Move To Toronto

produced by Fresh Hell

The show follows Daniels’ move from a contented collegiate life to the unpredictable big city, and will be familiar to anyone who has been dumped, evicted, threatened, fired, or bankrupted. Using a musical playlist of the most heartfelt love songs of the last generation and her years of experience as a stand-up comedian and storyteller, Daniels presents the brutally hilarious tale of a perfectly happy life absolutely ruined by moving to the Big Smoke.

Show Info:

Wed Feb 24, 2016 | 5:30PM
Fri Feb 26, 2016 | 7:10PM
Sun Feb 28, 2016 | 12:10PM
Tue Mar 01, 2016 | 7:10PM
Thu Mar 03, 2016 | 10:30PM
Sat Mar 05, 2016 | 5:30PM

Under St. Marks New York, NY $15/$18

Answers by Zoe Daniels

(writer/performer)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
Zoe: This show is all true stories of the insane year I had after moving to Toronto. You know all the bad things that usually happen in your 20′s? Those all happened to me, all at once. At a certain point I was just like “Yes, yes, this is the worst. Bring it on. What else can go wrong? Show me.” Just bathing in my own tears.

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
Zoe: Probably the part where my neighbour goes insane or where my boyfriend dumps me in the dumbest way possible.

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
Zoe: Character + theme. I do a couple characters from my year who were just too silly not to mock, but the overall show is in my voice and the theme is a combination of “You gotta laugh or you’ll cry” and “Woo0o0o0owwww, life is absurd.”

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
Zoe: A friend of mine said “I laughed, I cried, I was on my period.” A reviewer from the Pioneer Press (the big newspaper in Minnesota) said

“Daniels offers a comedic voice for a next generation [and] tells her personal stories [...] with such wit, humor and sarcasm, that it has you wanting to know what happens next and laughing throughout”

5. If money and resources (and even reality) were no object what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless prop, costume, effect – anything – that you would spend money on for this show?
Zoe: I would bring my audience to Toronto with me an perform a year-long show where I would recreate every day in painstaking detail, including the awful apartments, ridiculous jobs, and hysterically bad trip to Europe.

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
Zoe: Verrrrry excited to see what people are doing back in the homeland. I live in Canada now so it’s always sort of novel to see American theatre. Also, I hope I see some dance shows because I never tire of being like “HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT I CAN’T DO THAT AMAZING.”

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
Zoe: Yeah, one of the big jokes in the middle is a kind of crushing moment – sometimes the audience gets sad instead of laughing because they’re worried about me but I gotta tell you, don’t be – it’s really, really funny.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
Zoe: “The owner was a 5 foot 2 lady the color and texture of beef jerky, she drove a pink Hummer with her initials on the side in pink and she had a ponytail facelift… and also a regular facelift.”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
Zoe: Pushups to waste my adrenaline.

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
Zoe: Oh, for sure my ex-boyfriend who features in the show but has 100% not seen it. But honestly, that is exactly the kind of thing that was happening during that first year in Toronto – huge, comically horrible bad luck – so I wouldn’t be surprised if it did happen.

For your sake, Zoe, I’ll cross my fingers and hope that of all the surprise guests that could show up, that ex isn’t one of them. Sounds like you’ve had enough comically bad luck.

The rest of you – don’t forget to check out Don’t Move To Toronto.

-*-*-

Peach Fuzzy: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 21:00:35 +0000

Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

Peach Fuzzy

produced by Con Chocolate

What happens when a boy wakes up to find out that puberty has turned his body into a mustache? Mark Pagán recounts the only coming-of-age story involving Russian lasers, stubble patches, etiquette tutorials, Crystal Waters, treasure trails, cancer scares, clandestine salon visits, father figures, and wax. Lots of wax.

Show Info:

Wed Feb 17, 2016 | 8:50PM
Sat Feb 20, 2016 | 5:30PM
Fri Feb 26, 2016 | 10:30PM
Sat Feb 27, 2016 | 12:30PM
Thu Mar 03, 2016 | 7:10PM

UNDER St. Marks New York, NY $10/$12/$15

Answers by Mark Pagán (writer and performer)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
Mark: Simply, “I’m doing a show about body hair.” And then their head tilts, they smirk, and I think “oh, I got their interest…”

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
Mark: I hope they’re revealing something to a friend that they’ve never shared before. The first time I opened up about any of the content from this show to a friend, she told me that she bites her toenails when she’s alone. I’d like to foster more private ritual dialogue like that.

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
Mark: I’m more interested in the themes of the show as a major takeaway.

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
Mark: In the first few versions of this show, I’ve had a recurring comment from women quietly saying, “Thank you, I’ve never heard that side from a man.” Yay! Hearing that feels like some sort of gender coup d’etat.

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
Mark: I’m super curious to what people are doing in the same space. With minimal setup and breakdown time, I’m so inspired by what folks accomplish with minimal design and props.

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
Mark: There are a few reveals at the end that hit differently each time the show is performed. I’m sorry to be so vague but you have to see it to find out the surprises!

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
Mark: “He moved the car…back to Pittsburgh.”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
Mark: Sadly, refreshing my Facebook feed on my phone backstage. Other than that, paying attention to voices I hear in the audience and then saying to myself, “oh, Tristan and Amparo made it!”

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
Mark: Tristan and Amparo because I don’t know anyone with those names.

Oh, Mark, if your show is half as funny as the answer to that last question, you’ve got a hit on your hands.

The rest of you – don’t forget to check out Peach Fuzzy.

-*-*-

The Gospel of Sherilyn Fenn: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 17:00:24 +0000

Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

The Gospel of Sherilyn Fenn

produced by Nefarious Laboratory

The Gospel of Sherilyn Fenn is a true story about the saving power of cable TV and how it delivered one young boy from religion, junior high, the dangers of the middle America meth amphetamine trade, and the Eighties.

Show Info:

Fri Feb 19, 2016 | 7:10PM
Wed Feb 24, 2016 | 8:50PM
Sat Feb 27, 2016 | 3:50PM
Thu Mar 03, 2016 | 5:30PM
Sat Mar 05, 2016 | 10:30PM

UNDER St. Marks New York, NY $8/$10

Answers by Brad Lawrence
(writer/performer)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
Brad: It’s a very funny show about fear, death, guilt, eating disorders, and late night cable.

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
Brad: I hope the show inspires them to laugh at the things from their own childhoods that they were either most afraid of or most ashamed of. I hope they tell the stories of those things with fresh compassion for whatever kind of screwed up kid they were.

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
Brad: Mine is a solo storytelling show, so all three are kind of all on me. I’m not being evasive when I say I strive for a balance. If I rely too heavily on my performative style, then the theme and plot could be overwhelmed by schtick, but if it is all theme or all plot without a strong personality to make you interested, then you’re just getting a thesis or a biography.

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
Brad: Someone sent me a message after seeing the show and this is the part that has always stuck with me – “…the passage about faith and perspective, and compassion and forgiveness, is simply some of the most powerful stuff I have ever heard. ” I was really gratified to read that.

5. If money and resources (and even reality) were no object what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless prop, costume, effect – anything – that you would spend money on for this show?
Brad: I would recreate the sets of bad movies and tv shows mentioned in the show – Dreamscape, Buck Rogers, Two Moon Junction – and have them seamlessly assembled one after the other behind me on stage.

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
Brad: I love a festival atmosphere. Just immersing yourself in all the shows going on while at the same time, digging into your own work in a way that you don’t get a chance to normally.

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
Brad: I mention an obscene drawing a kid had me do for him in the sixth grade. Some audiences laugh at what he had me draw, some are appalled, some don’t know what to do with the fact that these are the sorts of things that come out of the minds of twelve year olds.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
Brad: It shifts, but right now it’s “Female characters in comics run around in nothing but thigh high boots and body paint and for some reason, that scares the crap out of the criminal class, I didn’t understand that in the sixth grade, but then, I was still years away from finding out how intimidating a naked woman could be.”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
Brad: Well, I just gave up smoking, so I guess we’ll find out.

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
Brad: My Middle School Principal. Because he’s supposed to be in jail.

Yeah, that would be shocking. I mean, some prisons don’t even allow conjugal visits, let alone furloughs to go see solo festival shows of former students. (Well, at least that’s what I’ve gleaned from Orange Is The New Black ).

Thanks so much for answering our questions, Brad!

The rest of you – don’t forget to check out The Gospel of Sherilyn Fenn.

-*-*-

CLENCHED: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 22:02:42 +0000

Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

CLENCHED

Struck by a mystery illness, David receives doctor’s orders to relax: something he’s incapable of doing. Desperate to conquer his debilitating tension, David dives into a spiraling monologue, a farce that audiences will find familiar, funny, and delightfully weird.

Show Info:

Fri Feb 19, 2016 | 8:50PM
Sat Feb 20, 2016 | 12:30PM
Thu Feb 25, 2016 | 8:50PM
Fri Feb 26, 2016 | 5:30PM
Sun Feb 28, 2016 | 5:10PM
Fri Mar 04, 2016 | 7:10PM

UNDER St. Marks New York, NY $12/$15

Answers by David Mogolov
(writer/performer)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
David: CLENCHED is a goofy, spiraling monologue that developed as I was thinking a lot about big data, and then coincidentally got really sick with a bacterial infection last summer. The script was underway when I got sick, but a weird experience I had while at the doctor’s office became a perfect frame for re-imagining the show. It’s much, much funnier than it would have been if I’d stayed healthy. Now it’s an hour-long comedy about illness, fonts, big data, and my complete inability to relax. They come together in a way that I think will be really fun and surprising.

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
David: Oh, I hope they’ll be discussing the scene that inspired the promo photos for the show, but they could just as easily be talking about the NFL, Comic Sans, or meditation.

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
David: Theme. Definitely theme. As I start to write, I have a whole mess of things I think might fit, and ultimately the only way they stay is if they tie into a couple key themes of the show. If they don’t fit, the only way I’ll keep them is if they’re very funny.

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
David: “Oh, I got so tense just then.” – this comment by someone at a reading of an early draft, at a specific moment, provided such a clear opportunity for a great revision.

5. If money and resources (and even reality) were no object what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless prop, costume, effect – anything – that you would spend money on for this show?
David: This isn’t exactly big-budget (and it risks sounding a little Corky St. Clair), but if I wanted to do something totally pointless, I’d periodically vent the smell of toast into the theater, like an olfactory soundtrack to the show.

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
David: This is my third FRIGID: I love this festival. The FRIGID team are unambiguously “the good guys.” Somehow they create a culture where everybody is really kind and helpful and open and fun. It’s big enough to see a ton of great, diverse shows, and small enough to meet everybody and have great conversations. I hope everybody comes to a bunch of shows and then donates some money to Horse Trade Theater Group, who put this whole thing on and treat everybody like human beings while taking none of the box office. It really does wonders for my faith in people.

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
David: Yeah, I imagine the show will be received quite differently depending on the professional composition of the room. I’m both delighted and terrified of what would happen if I had a large number of designers. I’d be equally curious about football players, but I don’t expect the NFL to send a contingent.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
David: So few of them make sense out of context! I like this one a lot: “Maybe I’m not so precious and different! Maybe I just need a candle and a crystal and a blanket with sleeves!”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
David: Check my zipper. I wish I hadn’t learned that habit the hard way.

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
David: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Well, I expect he’s elsewhere, eating an endangered animal.

Well, David — okay. I’m not much of a sports person so I just googled Roger Goodell. There are a lot of memes … enough for me to agree that yes, it’s not beyond the scope to expect he’d be eating something endangered**. Possibly.

Hey, Mr. Goodell – all in good fun, right?

Ahem. Anyway … the rest of you – don’t forget to check out CLENCHED.

**No animals were harmed in the writing of this post.

-*-*-

THE CANUCK CABARET (2014 Frigid New York Festival)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 06:03:09 +0000

One of the best things about the Frigid Festival as a whole is how innovative, experimental, unfiltered and uninhibited it is. But that’s nothing compared to what happens each night, for while the last show of the evening is taking its bows, UNDER St. Marks gears up for its traditional midnight show. For five years now there’s been no greater testament to the wealth of talent that gathers for the festival than The CANUCK CABARET which is – yes – a Cabaret but also a bawdy playground where talented performers from Canada and parts south (that would be the good ole US of A to you and me) get an opportunity to congregate in that 45 seat theatre we love after all the FRIGID hub-bub of the day is over. There, performers and audience and anyone who wants to be there, can experience some amazing performances, and in general just have a blast. The good news? There are still a few more midnights to go … The Cabaret is still at full tilt and you’re invited! The bad news? After a great 5 year run this is the last year for these Canadians so miss this now and you’ll miss it FOREVAH.

To review the show I saw and then tell you that your experience will be the same is kinda pointless – as well as besides the point. One doesn’t go down those rickety stairs with a playbook – nor would you want to. It’s the unexpected, the serendipity of specific audience melding with specific performers that make the magic that you experience. Hell, there’s not even a set running time. Just arrive at midnight and surrender yourself to the river of performance that will flow.

Paul Hutcheson [photo credit: KL Thomas]

Two things are constant however: the bar IS always open and the show IS always hosted by the appealing comedic performer Paul Hutcheson who takes care of warming up the crowd, giving introductions and keeping the whole thing moving. I just wanted to convince him to move to NYC so that we could see more of each other – that’s how much fun Hutcheson is, not only as host but as performer — and if his stand up is to be believed then that’s how much fun he is as a person, period. I think the New York scene needs a few more Paul Hutchesons.

Sharon Nowlan [photo credit: KL Thomas]

Revving up the crowd and starting things off RIGHT was Sharon Nowlan who did a little burlesque – Canada style. Which – according to me means lights turned down low while she swirled glowing things in the air. With perfectly placed maple leafs (yes I said “maple leafs”) she charmed not once, but twice and her closing number (almost 2 hours later) was as delightful as her first performance.

Chris Wilson [photo credit: KL Thomas]

Chris Wilson who is from Toronto got the crowd going with a skit involving a coach taking over a health class for the day. Things get a little twitchy when anonymous questions like “what is love” and other sex-related queries are answered with sports metaphors.

Fay Slift – The Ladybearextraordinaire – was decked out in full tutu, wig and glorious beard. Fay’s first number took the crowd soaring through a pop landscape but later on the audience was on its feet (or at least bouncing in its chair) as Fay raced about in a whole new ensemble – all foam hair and Minnie Mouse hands and perfect “are you gonna stay the night” eyelash batting. Yes, Fay! Yes! We WILL

Matt Panesh – Monkey Poet - was there in all his tall loveliness with that amazing accent pouring out of him. He gave his background which had a little Liverpool smashed in with a little Manchester and so much more – all I can say is listening to him recite his poetry is something to behold. I’d seen him all day at the Kraine handing out flyers and was already smitten – seeing him perform did not disappoint.

CJ Sawchyn [photo credit: KL Thomas]

CJ Sawchyn (Steve Nuggett) of the notorious musical sketch company THE SPECIALS, was there doing something so brilliant it’s impossible to describe. Suffice to say this guy makes Keith Richards look like your grandmother’s canasta partner.

Antonia Lassar (who is one half of the FRIGID show TINA and AMY) was there with her super good friend (and kissing buddy – and ovary smasher) Artem Yatsunov (director of BASIC HELP). First of all, seeing them together made me understand why they were so sweet together in their 10 THINGS TO KNOW interviews. Ahh! So obvious. Secondly, seeing them together was just great fun – they sang songs while Antonia strummed the ukulele and told a story that involved a trip to the emergency room after an incident involving (yes, you guess it) Antonia’s ovary. Let me say right now – since seeing this show I have sung the phrase “Big dickery” more times than I can count. That’s the way to do it A&A. THAT’S THE WAY TO DO IT.

Jillian Thomas [photo credit: KL Thomas]

Jillian Thomas – originally from Canada but recently moved to NYC after marrying a man who heckled her – not only did some great stand up that illustrated her comedic chops, but she told even MORE stories about host Paul Hutcheson involving a live sex show that made me envy her a little more.

Una Osato, a performer I’ve enjoyed for her work in prior FRIGID shows (notably JapJAP) didn’t disappoint as she took to the stage in a giant Orca costume and swam to that Free Willy song slowly shedding her costume until she was in all

Una Osato [photo credit: KL Thomas]

her glory – save for pasties and a thong – celebrating her sweet parts, even those that jiggled – and as the audience cheered and urged her on she jumped high into the sky (or as high as the basement ceiling of USM will allow) and let those babies (or do I mean boobies?) fly free.

Rebecca Parry [photo credit: KL Thomas]

Rebecca Parry of the Frigid show Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl was there too – wooing the crowd with some songs from Suzy Snowflake Entertains The Troops and her red hair and red dress and red-hot number proved that this firecracker from Canada is more than just a pretty shade of claret – she went down as smooth as a fine burgundy.

By the time Paul Hutcheson and Sharon Nowlan were back to do one final closing number that involved fans and flutters and a Pink ballad I was all teary eyed for this Cabaret. In a city that never sleeps this show comes on at prime time. So take the next few available midnights and spend them at UNDER St. Marks where you’ll be treated like an old friend. Do it before they’re gone forever.

~~~
THE CANUCK CABARET
Hosted by: comedic performer Paul Hutcheson

Remaining Performances:
Mar 06, 12:00AM
Mar 07, 12:00AM
Mar 08, 12:00AM

Running time: 1 h 0 min
Price: $5.00

Seating: General Admission

UNDER St Marks
94 St Marks Place
New York , New York 10009
1st Ave and Ave A
2nd and 3rd Ave

Horse Trade Theater Group will present the 8th Annual FRIGID New York Festival at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4^th Street between 2^nd Avenue and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1^st Avenue and Avenue A) February 19-March 9. Tickets are available for purchase in advance at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling 212-868-4444.

Almost A Genius (2014 Frigid New York Festival)

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 02:17:25 +0000

Mental disorder is a prickly theme for a comedian, at once courting a humane sympathetic response all but extinguishing of levity, while summoning a degraded, inhumane call for ridicule – an entirely viler form of laughter. As a chosen topic it is demanding, requiring skillful handling, but there are some who seem qualified to do so, much the way there are some who can juggle chainsaws. Maria Wojciechowski is one of those artful jugglers. In her self authored comedic monologue, Almost A Genius, playing at this year’s Frigid Festival, she offers an account of her fairly recent diagnosis as a bi-polar personality. A devastating label to be handed at any stage of one’s life, with presently no known “cure”, the knowledge carries a heavy burden of responsibility. It provides, however, a framework with which to look back on past experiences and reappraise them. It seems Wojciechowski is presently at this point in her young life, but it doesn’t stop her from finding comedy in reflection. And perhaps it opens up understanding in larger, freer ways.

Witness, for instance, her opening act here as slowly, painfully almost, she inches from behind a curtain wearing a head-to-toe banana suit, her face a riven mask of angst. She closes on the microphone and haltingly commences in a cringing voice a sequence of bad to very bad banana puns and humorisms. It’s agonizing. And darkly, deeply funny. Everything is up for the cut: the performer, the audience, humor itself, and the banana – most maligned of fruits. This is clever stuff. Mercifully the lights go down, the banana suit comes off, and she stands before us as herself, launching into the story of her recent real life diagnosis. She has a soft, gentle voice and a slight and graceful physical presence. There is something mild and vulnerable about her, altogether at odds with the evident sharpness of her intelligence and the gritty humor she conjures in this clear-eyed, slightly self-mocking account of her harsh situation.

Punctuating her affecting confessional monologue are a series of sketches and performances that crank up the laugh factor and deepen the investigation. Away from herself, in character, she is a bold and brassy performer, committed to her creations with a vitality that is almost scary – that banana is really quite alarming. We get some singing, some dancing, and a bunch of impersonations shedding various degrees of light on her personal story – some hilariously on point (an earnest nun singing How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?) – and some more vaguely so (a chatty Whitechapel prostitute who quips her way through a near fatal encounter with Jack the Ripper). Breezily she moves from act to act, effortlessly shifting gears, but the break in continuity and character sometimes damages the rhythm of the whole, and the proximity between scathing take-downs and heartfelt confession is an awkward one. What are we to make, for example, of her plaintive pronouncement concerning a cherished family pet -”sometimes I wonder if I loved that dog more than some of my family”? Does she mean it, or is she being funny again, sending up the trite sadness of the situation? Both, most likely. And really that’s the fine steel hook she can catch you with in this piece. She can use the comforting language familiar to support groups in a way that plays at once as sincere and as ridiculous. Many will be lulled by her soft ingenuous-seeming voice, the tender reality of her plight, but this is only half the story. Even though there are some broadly comical moments few could resist, by and large she’s a sly one.

With direction by Natalie Sullivan Shipman, as a piece it could use a little tightening up to improve pace, a little polish, perhaps even a little squaring up as to where the humor is contained and the real self prevails. But that might be tampering with a rare and delicate concoction from a distinctive performer. In its current form Wojciechowski has given us something already suffused with a vivid comedic sensibility and a brave creative reach. It’s almost a work of genius.

~~~
Almost A Genius
Directed by: Natalie Sullivan

Remaining Performance:
Mar 07, 5:30PM

Click HERE for tickets

Running time: 0 h 45 min
Price: $10.00 – $15.00
Seating: General Admission

UNDER St Marks
94 St Marks Place
New York , New York 10009
1st Ave and Ave A

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